As Told By Jinx
by Joegomoe
Summary: If there is but one lesson here, it's to not go looking for vanity items in Raven's room.


I was kinda surprised, honestly. It's not every day you take down the Teen Titans and it's especially not everyday where you get paid so much to do it. I'd take the job again in a heartbeat. I'm just kidding, of course, if any heroic eyes happen to be looking.

Anyway, the first thing I wanted to do after we kicked them out was visit Raven's room. We sorceresses have to stick together, right? Robin was dumb enough to let a map of The Tower be posted right inside the front entrance. That saved me a lot of time finding her room. Despite being enemies and all, I had to admit, Raven's room had style. Dark and Mysterious, but not in a "It's not a phase, Mom!" kinda way. She definitely seemed to favor dark blues and purples. Most everything in her room was one of these two colors. This included her wardrobe, unfortunately. Blue hood after blue hood. Still, It was only natural I try one on. I'd have to remember to grab one on my way out. I looked around to see what else she had.

"Oh, a hand mirror!" I had been looking for one at the time. I noticed my hair was still a bit messed up from the fight. I didn't really get a chance to fix it though, as a Giant black hand appeared out the mirror and dragged me into it.

The first thing I remember is overwhelming darkness and then my face hitting rock. I instantly figured I had been transported somewhere. I took a step and then heard a voice.

"Turn Back." It said. I turned to the source of the sound. Two small ravens sitting on a tree.

"Turn Back." They repeated. There really wasn't anywhere to turn back to. Unless you count jumping into the endless red-tinted void. I took a few more steps, and the raven's flew off the tree. I narrowly avoided getting my shoulder impaled by a beak, and I had to use my arm to stop the other from tearing into my face. I punched the arm hitchhiker away and fired a blast at the other. They went down easy enough. Did they have four red eyes before they attacked me? I started down the path again, but it seemed the birds actually **weren't** going to go down that easy. They got up and flew at me again. I launched two more bursts of magic. They seemed relatively undeterred this time and blew past, tearing into my skin as they went. They turned to launch another attack.

"You know, magic's only gonna make them madder." Whose voice was that?

"Oh really? And what do you suggest I do?" I replied. I dared a quick glance away from the birds to see the new arrival.

Was that, Raven?

But in a pink hood?

Change of wardrobe aside, I wasn't really prepared to fight Raven in addition to her deranged pets. Raven raised her hand forward and another path of floating rocks appeared.

"Follow me!" She said. There was really no way to trust her, but the path did provide an escape from the birds. They seemed to lose interest once I started following Raven. I trailed behind her until we approached a rock archway. She held her arms out and made an airplane noise as she ran. Was this even Raven at all? As soon as I passed under the arch, it was like I was transported to another world again. Colorful grass, a rainbow assortment of trees, and various hovering fruit. Why had Raven taken me here?

"So, I take it you wanna get outta here, huh?" I broke the ground under her feet. Time to beat some answers out of her.

"What'd you do to me? Where am I?"

 _Do you have any more of your hood in that color?_

"Wow. You are really committed to this bad guy thing. I'll take that as a yes. I can help you, but I can't if you keep attacking me."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Well, I could always let you handle things yourself." She snapped her fingers. The happy fruit-scented world disappeared and I was back where I was before. Hundreds of ravens had been sewn together to form some vaguely humanoid monstrosity. It let out a cry that sounded like multiple children screaming out in agony. There was another snap and I was in the rainbow field again. Raven erupted into laughter,

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. The look on your face was priceless!" She feigned wiping away a tear, "Anywho, just keep following this path with the arches. That'll take you to The Forbidden Door, and that's the way out." I turned for a moment to view the path, and when I turned back, she was gone.

That was odd.

Did Raven just put on the dark personality in public and that was how she really acted? Then, why would she be acting that way around me? I still needed to decide if I wanted to trust anything she said. She said to follow the path, but there didn't really seem like there was anywhere else to go anyway. I didn't have much choice beside playing along. This could all just be a plan to distract me while they take back The Tower. Gizmo and Mammoth were kind of hopeless without me. Perhaps if I made it through quick enough, I could expose the ruse and find a real way out. I walked through the next arch and the world changed once more, back into what it was when I first got there. The path seemed straight forward enough. It couldn't possibly stall me for that long. As if determined to prove me wrong, Large walls erupted from the ground. I tried to break through one, but it was no good.

"It's a maze. I can show you the way through." Raven was back, (In another different colored hood?) "Here, let me help you with your injuries." She approached me with glowing white hands.

"What do you think you're doing!" I shouted. She leapt back.

"I was just trying to heal you." Her voice sounded so weak now. Almost like she was on the verge of tears. What happened to the happy girl from before? Oh, well. I wasn't above taking advantage of her current state to get what I want.

"I have a better idea. How about I just make you lower the walls? Or for that matter, why don't I just force you to get me out of this place now?" She was actually crying at this point. I lunged at her. She dodged my first two attacks but I connected my third.

"Please, don't. The walls can't be lowered. And I can't get you out. The only way is through the door." I gave her two more blows to the head. She fell to the ground. If I wasn't so heartless, I might have felt something.

"No more lies. Tell me what I need to know."

"I'm telling you the truth." She began to faze through the earth.

"Oh, no you don't!" I dove at her, but I was too late. I slammed my fist on the ground. That hadn't worked well. Guess I had to keep playing her game. A maze couldn't be that hard, right?

I was wrong. Once I hit a dead end, I would turn around and I would swear the maze had changed. After the fifth time of ending up back at the start, Raven appeared again.

"I can help you."

"I don't need your help!" Another time around.

"I'm sorry, but I'm the only way you're getting out of here." Like it or not, it looked like she was right.

"Fine, you can show me the way, but don't think I won't pound you into the ground again if you try anything funny."

"I'm sorry I ran away before." She didn't say anything after that. She kept a fairly large distance between us as I followed. She constantly kept looking back, as if I would jump her at any moment. Which was fair to assume. Raven got us to the exit in around five minutes. It looked like all that was left was a short walk to what I assumed was The Forbidden Door. There was a singular hooded statue in the middle of the walkway. A hood like Raven's, but a mask-like face. No real defining characteristics besides four red eyes and an exaggerated smile. Once I was almost within arms reach, it shook to life, a sword appearing in its hand.

"This was a trap!" I shouted behind me. She was already gone. Oh well, a stone statue shouldn't cause too many problems. I broke off its arm before it had a chance to swing. It spun and grabbed the sword with its other arm. That one shattered too. I jumped backward to put some distance between us. As I landed I felt a tightness around my ankles. Its hands had reformed around them. The statue came charging toward me. I destroyed the hands again to jump out of the way, but it looked like it was already too late.

"Hoo-rah!" A green figure came from above and kicked the statue in the head, sending it back several feet, "The only way this thing goes down is one clean cut top to bottom." She did just that. She use two of her fingers as a sword and sliced through the statue effortlessly. I wasn't about to take any chances. I broke up the pieces until it was nothing but dust.

"Overkill! I like your style!" She said, "I thought about letting it kill you, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do."

What was up with Raven? Was whatever this place was what was causing her to act so sporadically?

"Come on, door's this way!"

"It's right there. You think I need a babysitter?"

"Oh, trust me, you're going to want one." I didn't really see a point in arguing now that I was so close. Whatever was through that portal, it was best just to get it over with. The green hooded Raven had me take the lead. I proceeded carefully. Once the portal was around 100 ft away, there was a noise behind us.

"You! You should die!" The green Raven was holding back something. Another Raven. This one had a red cloak and the same four crimson eyes

"Go!" The green one shouted, "She's bound by magic shackles. They don't go that far! Once you get close enough to the door, she won't be able to reach you!" I started running. I still wasn't 100% sure to trust her, but given how the red Raven looked, I decided to risk it. I heard what sounded like the snap of a bone, and I dared a look behind. The green Raven was clutching her right arm and the red one was now flying right at me.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" I broke sections of the path in hope to slow her down. She plowed right through the debris.

"Die!" She was closing the distance too quickly. I felt my knees buckle and I fell to the ground. My whole body was shaking. Was simply her presence having this effect on me? I made the mistake of checking behind me again. We made eye contact.

That was a new feeling for me.

Being completely immobilized by fear.

She tried to grab me, but it looked like I had just barely managed to get into the safe zone. I could now see bright red chains around her wrists. I got up and started walking backwards to the door. I wasn't going to let my eyes off of her for a second.

"You hurt my friends! You deserve to die!" Just a few more feet now…

"I'llkillyou!I'llkillyou!I'llkillyou!" Her hand kept extending. With each passing second, I began to doubt more and more that her restraints would hold. The green Raven jumped in between us.

"Wow, I must really hate you." The sound of stretching metal only getting louder, "I'll handle this. You need to get out of here!" The green one kicked me into the portal. The last thing I saw was the angry Raven breaking from her shackles.

What had just happened?

Four versions of Raven.

One, happy and kind.

One, shy and timid.

One, brave and daring.

And one, full of rage.

Was that,

Raven's mind?

I was met with darkness one more time and then I was back in her room again, like nothing had happened. I grabbed a hood like I had intended and got out. The guys were not going to believe what just happened. As I explored the other Titans' rooms, I still couldn't stop thinking about Raven. I had probably learned more about her than I had ever wanted to. I hoped with time, I would forget some of the details. After all, it's not like I would ever have to get along with her or anything.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Teen Titans. Yadda Yadda.**


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